Democracy Now! Blog

Democracy Now! just received an email from a medical worker at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, 75 miles north of Port-Au-Prince. They have a 7 member trauma/ general surgery team but so far have received only 4 patients from Port-Au-Prince. The medical team is desperately seeking a way to inform relief organizations in Haiti that they can help treat patients.

One. Allow all Haitians in the US to work. The number one source of money for poor people in Haiti is the money sent from family and workers in the US back home. Haitians will continue to help themselves if given a chance. Haitians in the US will continue to help when the world community moves on to other problems...

Democracy Now! spoke with independent journalist Ansel Herz earlier tonight from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Herz says more than 100,000 people may have died in the devastating earthquake. Tune into Democracy Now! on Thursday for full coverage. Herz was interviewed by Democracy Now! producer Mike Burke.

Howard Zinn is an American historian, social critic, and activist. He is best known as author of the best-seller A People’s History of the United States. He spoke at Boston University on November 11, on the subject of American "Holy Wars."

The media have been swamped with reports about the attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now dubbed the “underwear bomber,” failed in his alleged attack, close to 300 people were spared what would have been, most likely, a horrible, violent end. Since that airborne incident, the debates about terrorism and how best to protect the American people have been reignited.

Dozens of New York State and City legislators and environmental activists gathered on the steps of City Hall on Monday to urge Governor Paterson to step back from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s "Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement" (SGEIS), otherwise known as the state’s proposal to drill upstate. Some participants called for a statewide ban, while others called for additional investigations.

Dr. Atul Gawande, a practicing surgeon, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and staff writer for the New Yorker magazine joins us to discuss health care reform and his new book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right.

Dennis Brutus broke rocks next to Nelson Mandela when they were imprisoned together on notorious Robben Island. His crime, like Mandela’s, was fighting the injustice of racism, challenging South Africa’s apartheid regime. Brutus’ weapons were his words: soaring, searing, poetic.

On December 27, 2008, Israel began one of the bloodiest attacks on Gaza since 1948. The three-week assault killed some 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis. One year later, little to no rebuilding has taken place, and the siege continues. Speaking in Watertown, Massachusetts, on December 6, 2009, linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky delivered a talk entitled "Gaza: One Year Later." [includes rush transcript]

As the United Nations’ climate summit, called “COP 15,” enters its final week, with more than 100 world leaders arriving amid growing protests, the notion that a binding agreement will come from this conference looks more and more like a fairy tale.

María Carrión, a Madrid-based journalist and human rights activist, is posting updates about the ailing human rights activist Aminatou Haidar and her attempt to return to her home in occupied Western Sahara.

A stunning indictment has been handed down in Cincinnati, focusing attention again on police killings of people of color. This is a start for accountability and justice. Cleveland should pay attention. As the thousand people gathered there last weekend said clearly, “Black Lives Matter.”

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